Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

As sea levels rise, small island nations like Kiribati face some tough choices. A European design studio has an idea that might help: sustainable buildings that can collect rainwater, generate electricity, and help grow food. And they float. Plus: Boston's Museum of Science joins with Leonard Nimoy's family to mark his 90th birthday in a fascinating way.  Kiribati Floating Houses address risi...

Today in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated and opened, but it was only one of hundreds of ideas for what should be built there. And some of the other proposed designs were wild. Plus: a new device would be able to extract water from the air wherever the user already is.  The Story Behind The Eiffel Tower's Forgotten Competitors (Ozy) The Eiffel Tower’s Long-Lost Competition: A Granite Ligh...

Babies born ahead of schedule can benefit from close contact with parents and caregivers - and for the times they're not available, there's a new hospital bed called Calmer that can simulate the rocking motion they feel when they're being held up close. Plus: anybody need a fancy door that can fold down into a ping pong table? Cause that exists now.  Pulsating bed could prevent brain damage i...

On this day in 1849, Henry Brown escaped slavery from a Virginia plantation in a very unusual way: he arranged it so he could hide in a small wooden box that was sent to Pennsylvania. Here's some of his story. Plus: it was on this day in 2011 that a paramedic rescued a doctor from a fiery car crash, 30 years after that same doctor had helped the paramedic survive as a newborn.  Slavery cost h...

Today in 1804, the US Senate held a party featuring something called the “Mammoth Loaf.” To explain, we have to first tell you about Thomas Jefferson, an enormous block of cheese and an archeology project. Plus: a very cold town in Siberia has some very cool music, thanks to spring ice drums.  Jefferson presented with a “mammoth loaf” of bread (History.com) Thomas Jefferson and the "mammoth l...

It's a state holiday today known as Maryland Day, so it's a good time to talk about how in 1962 Maryland named jousting its official state sport. Plus: in New York City there's a "space clearer" who removes the negative energy from homes that won't sell and apartments with unsettling or tragic histories.  A look into Maryland’s curious state sport: Jousting (Shore Monthly) Mary Lou Bartram (M...

An engineer and beekeeper in New England has developed a system using radar and vibrational sensors to detect when a hive is being robbed by a rival colony, or when some of the bees are about to leave and start their own colony. That should create a buzz among beekepers! Plus: IKEA has just published a digital "scrapsbook" intended to help people turn leftovers into new meals and not into food was...

It was on this day in 1857 that the first commercial elevator began operating at a department store in New York City. And once elevators took off, they started shaping the world around us in some pretty big ways. Plus: a city in Oregon is home to an elevator that is technically a street! March 23, 1857: Mr. Otis Gives You a Lift (Wired) Oregon City is home of America's steepest street (Offbeat Ore...

In northeast Georgia, there are giant stone slabs inscribed with ten rules to lead the world toward "an Age of Reason." But the reason for the rules - and who had them installed there - remain a secret. Plus: a new exhibition features works by acclaimed artist Jackson Pollock and his brother and fellow painter Charles Pollock, the first time their art has been shown together.  Nobody Knows Ho...

This was a bonus episode for our Patreon backers, who make the show possible! It was exclusively available to them on Patreon for one year. If you want to hear future bonus episodes before that,  join us for just $1 a month . Today we tell the story of a man who was all about getting people together. Over 40+ years, Jim Haynes brought thousands and thousands of people to his place in Paris to have...

It's our 500th episode! We're celebrating with a visit to the Compass Festival in Leeds, which will feature an art installation that will ring many of the community's pay phones at exactly the same time. Plus: did you know the first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway wasn't a road race? This is why every phone box in Leeds will ring in unison on the same day at Compass Festival 2021 (Yorkshire Ev...

In Scotland's Shetland Islands, on the island called Unst, a 7 year old's request for a new bus stop led to a community tradition of making the space comfortable and colorful. Plus: a museum in South Bend, Indiana is showcasing cars of the 1970s, a time when cars were cars - sometimes a car was multiple cars.  Waiting in Style (Futility Closet) Website for Unst bus shelter is ‘essential readi...

A big problem in food waste is that people often refuse to buy fruits or veggies because of how they look. But a new study finds that grocers can sell misshapen or odd-looking produce if they market them as "ugly." Plus: if you're weary of remote meetings, a new web tool called Zoom Escaper may help you get a break.  Why calling food 'ugly' makes us want to buy it more (Vancouver Is Awesome)...

Today in 1980, the big U.S. TV networks began regularly using closed caption technology to serve Deaf viewers as well as hearing ones. That alone was a game-changer, but closed captioning has proven useful in some other big ways as well. Plus: in Russia, fans of a certain TV show set in a galaxy far, far away have built a replica of a certain ship that's home to a certain adorable baby puppet.&nbs...

Mary Fields was the first Black woman to receive a Post Office contract to deliver the mail, and in the Wild West, no less. Here's a little more about a pioneer who definitely made some history. Plus: the story of a sibling who found a practical use for her identical twin.  The Life and Legend of Mary Fields (Montana Women's History) Stagecoach Mary Fields (National Postal Museum) Fields, Mar...

Welcome to the world of electroceuticals! That's the word for treatments that involve electricity, and a new study finds steady current applied to wounds can actually get healing agents to the site more quickly. Speaking of quick: the "tossed rice art" of Maria Lynn may only last an instant, but what an instant it is.  Electricity could help speed wound healing, new study shows (Ohio State Un...

Blueswarm is a school of autonomous robot fish who scan their surroundings and calculate how they can swim together without colliding, like a school of actual fish. And the technology modeled on "implicit coordination" may be useful for lots of other high-tech devices in the future. Plus: GLYPHS is a project to develop new perfumes based on typology. No, there isn't a Comic Sans scent just yet.&nb...

Scientists have spotted three species of sharks near New Zealand that give off a faint blue light while in darkness. Yes, our world is home to glowing sharks. Plus: artist Calvin Nicholls is making extremely detailed sculptures of animals out of paper. Glowing sharks found near New Zealand (Inhabitat) Intricate Paper Animals Spring from Textured Sculptures by Artist Calvin Nicholls (Colossal) Our...

The internet and social media don't do a great job making the very visual world of meme culture accessible to blind users. The new podcast "Say My Meme" describes those memes so everyone can enjoy them. Plus: Madagascar is home to the "nano-chameleon," believed to be the smallest lizard in the world.  This delightful new podcast describes memes for people who are blind or visually impaired (F...

A team of German developers may have just made the pool safer, by developing a water-based lifeguard robot that can rescue swimmers in distress. Plus: today in 1969, musical history, as "Happy Birthday To You" becomes the first song ever performed in outer space.  New Robot Lifeguard Will Save People from Drowning (Interesting Engineering) 50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Completes its Mission (NASA) T...

Today in 1963 the Hula Hoop was patented, although by that point it had already become a worldwide phenomenon. And toy hoops go way, way back even before the toys we know today first became popular. Plus: how a very unusual photographer won the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.  How Hula Hoops Work (HowStuffWorks) Octopus steals camera and wins underwater photography competition (SCUBA...

On this day in 1928, the start of the Trans-America Foot Race, aka the "Bunion Derby," in which about 200 runners in Los Angeles set out to run all the way to New York City. Only 55 of them made it through the entire grueling route, which could be called a spectacle, boondoggle and landmark all at once. Plus: in honor of Vermont becoming a state today in 1791, a look at the state's famous Long Tra...

A study out of Rutgers University-Camden finds people who order cold sandwiches instead of hot ones also pick up chips, cookies and other sides much more often. Why? Plus: today in 1912, an unusual performance of a classic opera outside one of the great wonders of the world.  Consumers Buy More Food When They Order Cold Meals and Drinks, Reports Rutgers‒Camden Researcher (Rutgers-Camden) Toda...

You know about the Echo and the Google Home, but do you know about the Butler In A Box? It was a voice-controlled smart home device in the 1980s, and could do many of the same things our smart speakers do today. Plus: it's the birthday of Dr. Mark Dean, a computing pioneer who helped create some of the most important technology we have, and also saw the future of technology quite a few times.&nbsp...

People like to collect all kinds of things, but Mark Davis had a collection that even he thought was a little unusual: cassettes containing the music and announcements that Kmart stores used to play over their speaker systems, complete with announcements from "KMRT - Kmart Radio." Plus: on National Pig Day, a story about a pig in the 70s who had an unusual job.  Hear that? It's the sound of K...